Microsoft Stakes DRM Patent Claims

A smart guy wrote a while back that DRM has “negative value” with no way to motivate users to be interested in adopting it, let alone pay for it. So what should be said of the attempt to patent DRM methods? We noted that Microsoft was recently issued a patent on a method of managing DRM across devices and were curious about how much effort they have put into DRM.

In early 2001, Apple made a dynamic move signing major labels to deliver legitimate music downloads, albeit with a good amount of restrictions (FairPlay). Fair enough, a number of folks at the time thought that DRM was a good way to get the digital party legally started. While iPods sold and Microsoft worked on playsforsure and planned Zune, we pulled together more of the picture on DRM which adds insight to Steve’s Thoughts on Music.


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